Shaping speckles: spatio-temporal focussing of an ultrafast pulse through a multiply scattering medium

The multiple scattering of coherent light is a problem of both fundamental and applied importance. In optics, phase conjugation allows spatial focussing and imaging through a multiply scattering medium; however, temporal control is nonetheless elusive, and multiple scattering remains a challenge for...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2011-09
Main Authors: McCabe, David J, Tajalli, Ayhan, Austin, Dane R, Bondareff, Pierre, Walmsley, Ian A, Gigan, Sylvain, Chatel, Béatrice
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coherent light
Coherent scattering
Compressing
Conjugation
Phase conjugation
Photonics
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The multiple scattering of coherent light is a problem of both fundamental and applied importance. In optics, phase conjugation allows spatial focussing and imaging through a multiply scattering medium; however, temporal control is nonetheless elusive, and multiple scattering remains a challenge for femtosecond science. Here, we report on the spatially and temporally resolved measurement of a speckle field produced by the propagation of an ultrafast optical pulse through a thick strongly scattering medium. Using spectral pulse shaping, we demonstrate the spatially localized temporal recompression of the output speckle to the Fourier-limit duration, offering an optical analogue to time-reversal experiments in the acoustic regime. This approach shows that a multiply scattering medium can be put to profit for light manipulation at the femtosecond scale, and has a diverse range of potential applications that includes quantum control, biological imaging and photonics.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.1101.0976